


Welcome to Toronto

by simonsjumpers



Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Anne in trousers is a LOOK, Anne with an E - Freeform, F/M, Finger guns, Fluff, Gilbert and Anne, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Marriage Proposal, Teenagers just being teenagers, Underage Drinking, also Gilbert Blythe is one lovesick puppy, i could not NOT write Anne is trousers, im british so i will be mostly using 'trousers' instead of 'pants' sorry in advance, let gilbert blythe have fun, or how I'd write season 4, pure devotion from gilby, season 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:00:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22325983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simonsjumpers/pseuds/simonsjumpers
Summary: "Did Gilbert Blythe just propose to me?"Anne visits Toronto, buys trousers, charms everyone she meets and engages in a book-duel with Gilbert... And Gilbert can't help but, kind-of, accidentally, propose.(COMPLETED MARCH'20)
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe & Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Comments: 107
Kudos: 877





	1. Chapter 1

Gilbert checked his watch – 09:34 am. Which was precisely two minutes after he’d last checked it. In fact, he had checked his watch a total of seventeen times in the last hour.

Patience was usually a virtue he had no problem with, but today all of his sense had vanished. It was the nerves, mostly, and the anticipation; because at exactly 10:28 am, a train would be pulling into Toronto’s main station and Anne Shirley-Cuthbert would be stepping off it. So, _yes_ , Gilbert was having a problem with being patient.

He had woken up at the crack of dawn and, with no classes until the afternoon, he’d had nothing to occupy himself but the thought of Anne and the way she’d feel in his arms again after four months apart.

Letters were nice. But letters were not the softness of her hands, or the smell of her hair, or the sweet freckles on her nose. He had adored it all in December, for every minute they had spent together. But Christmas had ended too quickly and soon he was back on his way to Toronto for his second term.

Now, four months later, he could have it all back, even just for a few days. Anne would be staying a whole week. Not with him of course, a boarding house stuffed with boys would not be a good idea. He had instead arranged for Anne to stay with Doctor Oak. A kindred spirit of both Miss Stacy and Gilbert’s and therefore, by association, Anne.

Dressed in his finest clothes and lying flat on his bed, Gilbert checked the time again – 09:36 am. He groaned.

It would only take him ten minutes to walk to the station but he just couldn’t handle it anymore. He jumped up and banged his head on the beam above his bed. Being a late university admission meant he had had little choice in his accommodation arrangements, and an attic room in an already-crowded boarding house was his only option.

As he made his way downstairs, he heard the usual hooting from the parlour. No doubt all of the boys were playing cards. He stopped at the door and peered in – all five of his housemates were at the table. The laughing quietened as soon as they noticed him.

“I’m just going to meet Anne.”

No response. They turned back to their game.

Gilbert left without another word.

* * *

He made it to the station in seven minutes. A new record. The large station clock read 09:50 am.

Train after train pulled in and out. Crowds on the platform grouped and then dispersed. And eventually, the whistle of the arriving 10:28 am train sounded.

Gilbert bounced up and down on his feet. He rarely had this kind of anxious energy, usually priding himself on how unshakeable his temperament was. But this was the Anne effect. This was how he felt love.

His eyes scanned the crowd, face after face.

_Perhaps she wasn’t coming. She changed her mind. She missed her train. She didn’t want to see him. She was swept off her feet by that international student Ryoko Gardener from Japan that she shared a literature class with, and now she was living a fantastic life in Asia._

All his wild thoughts were put to rest as soon as he saw one cerulean dress and a head of fiery red hair.

Unmistakeably Anne.

He heard her squeal above the hiss of the engine as she spotted him. She ran straight into him and knocked the wind right out of his chest with a hug.

“Gilbert!”

“Anne!”

“Hello.”

“Hello. Welcome to Toronto.”

He wanted to hold her like this forever and never let her go. Although, he had felt that the first time he’d hugged her, so nothing had changed.

“It’s so great to see you.”

He pulled back from their embrace and gripped her elbows tightly

“It’s great to see you too, Anne.”

They stood there for a while. Gilbert deliberated kissing her. _Would it be appropriate? To kiss her here on a busy city train platform? Would she even want to kiss him?_

Anne’s little eyebrows furrowed.

“Is everything alright?”

Gilbert nodded, quickly, “it’s just a long journey from our island, isn’t it? You must be exhausted.”

She shrugged, “two and a half days isn’t so long when you’re on such a wonderful adventure. I quite enjoyed it, really”

He laughed, expecting nothing less.

“You can tell me all about it. We can get your luggage sent ahead but I thought you may enjoy a walk to Doctor Oak’s through the city.”

Anne looked away and blushed.

“Anne?”

“I actually have an appointment I must make. At twelve.”

Gilbert’s face must have betrayed his shock because Anne began to splutter.

“Oh, I know I only just got here. I honestly don’t mean to be rude. When I decided I was coming to visit you, I wrote to The Globe editor that I would be in the city, and you know I’ve been so keen to talk to them about Ka’Kwet. They agreed to meet me but said it _had_ to be today. Gilbert, I’m really–“

Gilbert couldn’t help but laugh. He had forgotten just how _Anne-like_ Anne could be.

“Then you must go, Anne. I can walk you there instead. It’s perfect really. I have my final class of the week at twelve-thirty and was worried you would think _me_ rude.”

She pressed her lips together in an embarrassed little smile.

He offered her his arm and she looped hers through so naturally. They made their way out of the train station and into the city.

* * *

“Toronto is unlike any place I had ever been.”

They took a slow walk through the city. Gilbert made sure to stop at every point of interest to regale Anne with facts and stories he had learnt. She listened eagerly, hanging on his every word.

“Charlottetown has always seemed so large and lively to me but now it is forever ruined as it pales in comparison to your beloved Toronto.”

Gilbert laughed ironically.

“What?”

“I’m not sure this city will ever be my beloved?”

“I think it’s wonderful. You write so little of your life here in your letters. I started to imagine Toronto was rather boring but this city is just exquisite.”

“It’s not home,” Gilbert said tactfully.

“Well, I can’t wait to explore every inch of it. Oh, and meet all of your friends. I know nothing about them either.”

Gilbert desperately tried to think of a believable enough excuse for why Anne couldn’t meet his friends during the visit. Luckily, at that moment, a band started playing across the street and Anne’s attention was drawn away from him. She squeaked excitedly and bounced over in the music’s direction.

“Do you think they’d play the dashing white sergeant if I asked?”

He followed behind her.

Gilbert had never written to Anne about his friends because, in truth, he didn’t _have_ any. Nearly eight months he had been in Toronto, but he was yet to make a single friend. Sure there were class acquaintances, people he saw every day, and while Doctor Oak was his close confidant and mentor, she was too old to be considered a peer.

He was struggling. And his time home at Christmas had made it even clearer to him that his existence in Toronto was lonely and friendless.

There had been a little class reunion on Christmas eve at Miss Stacy’s – Gilbert had spent the evening laughing and reminiscing with all his childhood friends. Not to mention all the time he had spent in Anne’s company. Returning to Toronto and the barren evenings in his attic room alone had been eye-opening.

It was a lot of things. Turning up as a late admission to the university and the boarding house hadn’t helped – friendships had already been established, no one seemed to have room for a rogue island orphan boy that came from nothing.

He had thought living in a house of fellow medical students would mean he would instantly fit in but that hadn’t been the case.

Also, Gilbert had been either deeply grieving or completed devoted to his studies in the past few years so he had completely forgotten how to even make a new friend.

His last new acquaintance, Miss Winifred Rose, hadn’t exactly gone to plan or ended well.

He felt stiff and out of touch. In Avonlea, he’d always just taken it for granted that he was popular and in the good graces of his peers. But in Toronto, people seemed uninterested and bored by him.

_How could he even tell Anne?_ Lovely Anne, who made friends wherever she went. Anne, who had made so many new friends at Queens, he heard about new ones in all of her letters. Against all odds, she had even made a friend in Winnie, after writing to her in Paris.

Gilbert was embarrassed and also extremely afraid that were she to discover his clear unpopularity she’d realise what a mistake she made in courting him.

And seeing her here, alive and buoyant in Toronto… it made him so scared to lose her.

* * *

He took all her the way to The Globe’s front steps and squeezed her hand for good luck, not that she needed it.

“I’ll come straight back here in two hours.”

“I expect I’ll have a lot more than two hours’ worth to say to the editor but that seems a good enough time for you to meet me here,” she sighed.

Gilbert gave her the best, most-confident smile he could muster.

On his way back across the city to class, all Gilbert could think about was the potential disappointment on Anne’s face the moment she discovered the truth about his life here.

* * *

Fifteen minutes. Fifteen measly minutes. That’s all the editor had given her, not that he’d even paid attention that long. 

Anne was sure she’d spoken just a few words about the injustices done to Ka’Kwet and her people before the editor’s eyes had glazed over entirely.

She burst out of the office, red in the face and fuming.

_How can you expect us to take a girl like you seriously_? The editor had said to her, offence all implied.

Anne had thought that her harrowing tale of Ka’Kwet’s capture and imprisonment under the guise of education needed to be heard. Yet no one would listen to her because she was a _girl_? It was confounding.

She needed to find Gilbert; to find someone who would be as outraged as she was. She knew roughly where his boarding house was, despite his consistent vagueness, so she headed off down the main street away from the newspaper offices.

People moved out of her way as she stomped down the pavement, sensing her bad mood.

Suddenly, something caught her eye across the street. The silhouette of a mannequin in a women’s-wear shop.

Now _that_ would get her taken seriously.

* * *

Gilbert had barely been able to concentrate in class. His head was so full of Anne.

On the walk to his boarding house after class, he also drifted in a daydream. Ahead of him, the other boys he lived with walked as a group, but Gilbert was so caught up in his thoughts he barely noticed them whispering and turning to look at him.

“No girl then, Blythe?” One of them shouted back at him.

“Oh, she’s just at an important meeting,” Gilbert answered back.

The group of boys tried to hide their snickers and turned away from him again. _What had he done wrong now?_

* * *

Back at the boarding house, his five housemates returned to their card game, leaving Gilbert alone in the entranceway to sort through the mail. He had an hour to kill before going to meet Anne at the Globe. He debated going out to buy her another gift to add to the pile he had already bought and wrapped for her when the boarding house door flew open.

“You’ll never believe it, Gilbert.”

Anne. Everything was right in his world again.

“Fifteen minutes. That’s all he gave me.”

She stormed straight into his arms, clutching him by the shoulders and barely taking a breath.

“You’d think they’d be interested in what I had to say but _why would they_ because I’m just a _stupid girl_. Well, that’s what the horrible editor thought anyway. We both did a more thorough job of editorial engagement at the Avonlea Gazette.”

She wasn’t wearing her blue dress anymore but a slick pair of trousers and a white lace blouse. Very Miss Stacy-Esq. And her hair was loose down her back like it always was in a moment of Anne-like passion.

He filed away his thoughts on the matter of her appearance to process later, but from the sheer beating of his heart, he knew it would take him a while to unpick the 500 ways in which he definitely loved her even more now.

“They’ll take me seriously, alright. If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. I’m going back tomorrow; I hope that’s okay?”

Gilbert nodded, just starting to catch up with what she was ranting about.

A small tight cough came from the parlour. Both Anne and him turned to find his five housemates’ attention very firmly on them.

All the boys looked completely stunned. Their eyes were wide and mouths agape.

“Oh, hello,” Anne said, always friendly.

No reply from the boys.

“You must be all of Gilbert’s friends and housemates.”

Gilbert just wanted the ground to swallow him.

“You’re… you’re…” Peter, one of the oldest began, “you’re Gilbert’s Anne?!?”

He sounded as shocked as he looked.

Anne chuckled, “I am. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”

She crossed into the parlour and shook each of their hands with fervour. The boys descended into absolute bewilderment, Gilbert had never seen anything like it from them – usually they were so icy and uninterested.

“Sorry to meet you all in this state. I had rather a heated argument with the editor of the Globe about the rights of the indigenous residents on our island.”

“The Globe?” Martin squeaked.

“Yes. Oh, are you playing cards? I don’t mean to interrupt.”

“No worries at all, miss. Please join us.”

Gilbert watched in a daze as all the boys scrambled around for another chair and made space at the table for her. He couldn’t believe it, Anne had been here two minutes and they’d already been more welcoming to her than they had been to Gilbert for an entire eight months.

He wanted to run away, to hide in his attic room and leave Anne, who clearly deserved more than him, to enjoy her time with more stimulating company. But then she looked over to where he was loitering in the doorway and smiled. He melted. She shuffled over in her seat and patted the space as an invitation. And who was he to refuse her?

He joined them at the table.

“Would you deal a hand to Gilbert as well, please.”

Gilbert knew her well enough to know she was making a polite demand, and the boys followed suit and soon he had seven cards between his fingers.

They played a few rounds. Gilbert too in shock to play anything but a poor game. Anne won every round, it seemed the others were also in the same state and also incredibly distracted by Anne.

“I didn’t get all of your names,” Anne piped up between games.

They all answered at once in a confusing mess of introductions. Gilbert filled in the gaps for her.

“This is Peter, Martin, Jeremiah, Arthur and Thomas.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”

The games continued, and with the presence of Anne sat close to his side, he eventually found himself relaxing. He learnt more about his fellow housemates then he ever had. It was clear that Anne’s informal and wild personality charmed all of them entirely. Gilbert expected nothing less. It made his heart fill and overflow. She was effortless.

Soon the boys were inviting them both to all kind of events – the theatre, poetry readings holidays in Quebec… it was overwhelming.

Thomas got the table going when he suggested a secret evening rendezvous to the library and all the others began jumping up and down in their seats. It was revealed what was _quite_ so exciting when Arthur whispered to them that there was a lot of alcohol hidden behind the British history section.

The boys all rushed off the collect their things and Anne and Gilbert were left alone in the parlour.

Anne would know now; Gilbert was aware – she’d know how much of a pitiful loner he was.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Gilbert?”

“I… I…”

“If I would have known how unkind they’ve been to you; I would have visited sooner.”

“Unkind?” Gilbert’s voice was small and shaky.

“It’s clear to me that they’ve not bothered to include you before. I recognised it in your eyes immediately.”

She took his hands and he felt like breaking apart.

“I think, perhaps, it’s me,” he admitted.

“You?” Anne screeched incredulously, “Gilbert why would you–“

“You know how boring I am. All that time I spent in Avonlea reading and studying while you and all our classmates were off on adventures and––“

“Gilbert! Everyone at home loves you–”

“But––“

“Gilbert, stop!” She interrupted, “everyone at home loves you because you are a loyal and dedicated friend. If these idiots can’t see it then they don’t deserve that devotion from you.”

She took his face in her hands.

“You can tell me anything, Gilbert. And, I will listen.”

He let out a breath and felt all the tension from the secrets he’d been hiding evaporate.

“I have no friends here, Anne. None at all.”

She flung her arms around his neck.

“I was embarrassed to tell you. You’re always so well-liked… and you deserve someone who can match you properly in this.”

“You have that impression of me?”

He nodded into her shoulder. She let out a surprised little noise.

“I didn’t think… Well, I… I didn’t think _anyone_ thought that of _me_.”

“My housemates just met you and they’ve already fallen in love with you.”

She laughed, “well then, we should use that to our advantage.”

Gilbert pulled back and gave her a quizzical look. She began to answer but then Martin appeared at the door.

“Are you ready to go?”

Anne sprang up.

“Yes. To the library.”

* * *

The walk was short. The library was closed, and Gilbert was surprised to find out that Jeremiah had a talent with locks and they were through the back door and lighting the library lamps in no time.

Peter dug around in the stacks for three bottles of moonshine and placed them triumphantly on the large central table.

“Don’t worry Anne. We know there’s not a lot of drinking on Kind Edward Island so you may sit this out,” he said to Anne in a rather condescending tone.

Anne raised an eyebrow, “it’s _Prince_ Edward Island, actually.”

Then, Gilbert watched as she took a rather zealous swig of the bottle and placed it back on the table, completely unfazed.

“Blimey, that’s strong stuff that, surprised you can handle it.”

“I can hold my liquor.”

The boys all crooned excitedly. Soon, the drinking turned to games. Gilbert was wary, his one encounter with alcohol had been a rather traumatic show of bravado to Bash and he hadn’t touched the stuff since really. He took small sips whenever he was encouraged to.

“Anne, how come you can out-drink us? There a lot of drinking where you study?” Thomas asked.

“I suppose I’ve built up a tolerance. A family I lived with, the Hammonds, well… Mr Hammond thought alcohol would keep me quiet, so he forced me to drink it sometimes,” Anne admitted nonchalantly.

The boys’ faces went slack. Gilbert felt his heart tighten in his chest like it did whenever Anne would tell particularly distressing stories from her past.

“Gosh, Anne,” Martin exclaimed.

“Where were your family?” Arthur asked.

Gilbert could have hit him but Anne just took it in her stride.

“Ah, well, my parents died when I was very young.”

“So you’re a… a… You and Gilbert are both…?”

“Orphans?” Anne supplied, “well neither of us like to think of it that way anymore. We have families, just not typical ones.”

“It’s awfully sad, that story of Mr Hammond,” Peter remarked.

Anne rubbed her hands together mischievously.

“Oh, that’s nothing. Once I was tied up, gagged and left by conmen in a pantry.”

Gilbert reached over and took her hand, “Anne, you don’t have to talk about the time before you arrived in Avonlea if you don’t want to.”

Anne gave him a puzzled look, “oh, no. That actually happened at Green Gables.”

“What?!” Gilbert exclaimed. _How could he not have heard this story before?_

“I suppose I’ve never told you. It happened while you were working on that steamboat? Or maybe you were travelling in Trinidad at that time. You went to so many places, I can’t remember.”

“You worked on a steamboat, Blythe. Trinidad?”

The boys were all staring at him, perplexed.

“Uh… yes. I spent some time travelling and working.”

The boys all leaned in to hear the stories. Gilbert looked over at Anne, who had a very smug expression.

_Oh_ , Gilbert realised, _she had done it on purpose._

Gilbert began to tell them about all his adventures and, when he finished, they all burst out laughing.

“What? What’s so funny?”

Between laughs, Peter explained, “well this whole time we’ve been living under the same roof as our very own Hernán Cortés and we had no idea.”

“And I admit, I was very confused by the match between you and Anne. We all expected someone _very_ stiff and boring but Anne is… well… Anne is very _Anne_. But I see why you make a good match now. I really do. It makes sense,” Arthur added.

“I think you were too quick to judge him,” Anne scolded.

“I think we were,” Peter said.

He stretched out a hand to Gilbert, “I look forward to hearing more of your stories, Blythe.”

Gilbert took it.

* * *

Anne hadn’t wanted to meddle. But how could she not when these Toronto boys were too blind to see just how amazing Gilbert Blythe was.

_Worthy. Lovely. Kind_. Anne added something to her list of Gilbert’s wonderfulness every day.

Missing him felt like a weight that got heavier every single moment they were apart. It was getting close to unbearable without him back on the island. All of her new friends at Queens were great, but they never quite filled the Gilbert-shaped hole; no one ever had, even before she came to know the extent of her feelings for him and he’d been travelling around the world.

She sat on the library floor and watched her five new friends jumping from table to table, wrestling the alcohol off of one another. She’d been doing well at Queens… maybe even well enough to graduate early. Many universities taught higher education teaching qualifications, Toronto included. Anne could see herself fitting in here.

She noticed that Gilbert had slipped away from the party. Taking the stairs, she found him hiding deep between the bookshelves on the second floor of the library, leaning on the fiction section. He had a book she didn’t recognise in his hands and was turning the pages delicately. The amber library lights cast a golden glow on him, it was the same effect as all the times they’d sat by a fire together.

Finding him like this, his features soft and peaceful, lit something within her. She was burning for him. Being in Toronto, _his Toronto_ : the streets he walked down every day, his boarding house, his favourite places, his library, it made her fall even more in love with him.

She leant against the other end of the shelf, a little way off from him. He didn’t notice her for a while but, eventually, he glanced up and caught her looking. Immediately, his eyes crinkled and he smiled. Anne thought she would melt.

She eyed the book in his hand and gestured towards it. Gilbert cleared his throat in mock seriousness and help it up high to read from it dramatically.

“ _Perhaps little boys pull on the hair of little girls because they don’t yet know how to express their true and wild feelings_ ,” he read from the book.

Anne’s eyes almost rolled out of the back of her head. He was no doubt referring to the first day they met and the slate incident that they had laughed about since then.

_Fine_ , she thought, _if he wants to duel, we shall duel._

She scanned the shelves and spotted the book she was looking for, reached for it and opened it to a familiar page.

“ _For he is such a disagreeable man, that it would be quite a misfortune to be liked by him_ ,” she quoted.

Gilbert laughed. He was game – he reached for another book, leafing through it until he came across a perfect quote.

“ _Girls are so queer you never know what they mean. They say no when they mean yes, and drive a man out of his wits just for the fun of it.”_

Anne narrowed her eyes but Gilbert just raised his eyebrows teasingly. She grabbed another book.

“ _Doctor, you don't know what it is to doubt everything, even yourself. No, you don't; you couldn't with eyebrows like yours.”_

Gilbert feigned hurt and opened another book.

“ _He knew enough of the world to know that there is nothing in it better than the faithful service of the heart.”_

Her chest tightened. Two could play at that game.

“T _o be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love_.”

Both of them scrambled to find new books.

“ _She marvelled how she could ever have been wrought upon to marry him! She deemed it her crime most to be repented of_ ,” he read.

Anne thought about that quote – how Gilbert was _clearly_ alluding to Winifred Rose. He had written to her often about his guilt and his actions both towards her and Winifred, equally. They had even spoken about it at Christmas so it was water under the bridge now, long forgiven.

She gave him a supportive smile and found a book which she knew would have the perfect response to quench his shame.

“ _Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives_.”

He smiled back at her with grateful eyes. He found another book and perked up.

“' _When I was already in despair, and when it seemed there would be no end- there it is! She loves me. She's confessed it_.”

Anne giggled. Indeed she had; outside her boarding house with her lips and then again with her pen, over and over for months.

She stepped in close to him, new book in hand.

“ _The sweetest kisses left upon your lips only the unattainable desire for a greater delight.”_

He stepped in closer to her. This was dangerous territory now; the air between them was charged and electric.

“ _Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again.”_

Gilbert’s voice was low and gravely, losing the playfulness and sounding incredibly earnest.

Anne searched the shelves for a familiar book. Her heart was thumping in her chest at double the speed.

“ _She began now to comprehend that he was exactly the man who, in disposition and talents, would most suit her,”_ said read, softly.

His expression was unreadable, intense and serious. He took the book from her hands and took a big breath in. He sensed the danger too, she could tell.

He flipped the book to the first page. Anne had read this particular book time and time again; she knew every word on that page…

“ _It is a truth universally acknowledged_ …” he began.

_Oh –_ was all her brain could formulate.

“… _that a single man in possession of a good fortune_ …”

Anne’s whole body froze up. She knew what came next.

“… _must be in want of a_ …”

Gilbert paused and his eyes flicked up to hers.

“… _wife_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow so that was a long chapter huh? I just really wanted to set everything up. And I know some liberties were taken, but better to ask for forgiveness, right?
> 
> also Gilbert struggling to fit in and feeling lost among teenagers just trying to have fun would be the perfect season 4 storyline because he's never had to work that hard to make friends (apart from that one time with Anne) and I'd like to see him realise that's it's okay to be young and have fun and not be so serious all the time
> 
> SOURCE BOOK QUOTES IN ORDER  
> 1\. (i made this up for plot convenience)  
> 2\. Pride & Prejudice  
> 3\. Little Women  
> 4\. Dracula  
> 5\. A Tale of Two Cities  
> 6\. Pride & Prejudice  
> 7\. The Scarlett Letter (some liberties taken)  
> 8\. The Picture of Dorian Gray  
> 9\. Anna Karenina (I think but can't find the source anymore)  
> 10\. Madame Bovary  
> 11\. Romeo and Juliet  
> 12\. Pride & Prejudice  
> 13\. Pride & Prejudice


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Did Gilbert Blythe just propose to me?"
> 
> Gilbert and Anne reel in the wake of the accidental proposal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just want to say thank you to all your lovely notes on my last chapter <3 looking forward to chatting to you in the comments again.

“ _It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife_.”

He regretted it as soon as he said it.

Not because it was particularly untrue. He had indeed thought about it… thought about her… in that way… and not just on one occasion. In fact, he’d thought about it long before it had even been a possibility.

They’d been young; still acquaintances, not even friends yet, really. He was in the midst of grief when she’d visited his house with Diana, Ruby and a shepherd’s pie they’d all made to _comfort_ him.

“Anne made the topping. She’s a good cook,” Diana had said.

“But I would make a terrible wife!” Anne had countered before fleeing from his house in a typically dramatic fashion.

And even though he was still angry at her for what she’d said after his father’s funeral…

_No, you wouldn’t_ , Gilbert had thought, _not for me_.

And from that moment on… how could he ever marry anyone else?

So, no, he didn’t regret saying it because implying Anne was wife-material was a lie. He regretted it because of the absolute look of panic that appeared on Anne’s face after he did, and how all the blood seemed to drain out of her rosy cheeks.

They stood face to face, both with no idea what to say to each other. Gilbert desperately tried to come up with anything that would fix everything. Anne took a minuscule step back as if she was going to bolt back to their island any second.

Why did they always seem to end up like this? With Anne running away. Too many times Gilbert had stood and watched as she’d run from him.

He hadn’t meant to propose. The quote wasn’t a _proposal_ it was meant just to be an assurance. _It’s you. It always has been and always will be you._

“Gilbert, I–”

“There you are…”

Martin appeared behind them.

“The librarian is here – ranting and raving that if he catches us here again we’ll be barred for life. We need to go before he makes good on that.”

Anne didn’t need to be told twice. She shuffled away from Gilbert and towards the stairs with Martin.

Gilbert put the copy of Pride and Prejudice back on the shelf, vowing never to read it again, before following after them.

* * *

Grateful though he was about finally becoming friends with his housemates, it did prove to be a bit of an inconvenience as they all _insisted_ on joining him as he walked Anne to Doctor Oak’s. Although that was probably more the Anne-effect than his influence.

He was desperate to talk to her alone. To apologise. To say he didn’t mean it. God, even to get down on one knee and do it properly. Anything.

But on the short walk across town, Martin, Peter, Jeremiah, Thomas and Arthur remained firmly by Anne’s side. Peter joked about the importance of chaperoning until marriage and Gilbert swore he saw Anne turn three shades redder.

Soon, they arrived at the large Toronto townhouse belonging to Doctor Oak where Anne would be residing during her visit.

Doctor Oak answered the door and looked Anne up and down – they were both wearing the same pair of finely-checked trousers.

“Anne Shirley Cuthbert it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine. The fact that I’m allowed to be a guest in an esteemed household such as yours is magnificent beyond belief.”

Doctor Oak threw Gilbert a look that said, _is she always like this_? Which he replied with a simple eyebrow raise.

“I apologise we’re so late. My housemates have been very enthusiastic in getting to know her,” Gilbert said.

Doctor Oak peered over his shoulder at the gaggle of boys waiting at the gate who were trying to look as sober and inconspicuous as possible.

“I see my lecture on the dangers of bodily intoxication went down well.”

“Perhaps a refresher next term would be wise.”

Gilbert’s professor chuckled.

“Don’t worry about your Anne. She’ll be very comfortable here. Goodnight, Gilbert. Anne, do come in.”

Anne turned to Gilbert with nervous eyes as she walked inside. He gave her a little nod of reassurance.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he whispered.

As soon as the door closed, the boys behind him burst into laughter. Gilbert joined them back out on the street. Arthur took him into a headlock and ruffled his hair. _Acceptance_.

“Bloody hell, Blythe. That is quite a woman. Hold on to her,” Thomas exclaimed.

“Yeah! Do not mess it up.”

But Gilbert was worried he already had.

* * *

Anne lay fitfully awake in her bed for most of the night. Any chance of a good sleep was chased away by one single question she kept asking herself:

_Did Gilbert Blythe just propose to me?_

It didn’t seem like a proposal… but there had certainly been some level of intention behind his quote choice. Anne had never been great at understanding Gilbert’s desires but this time she’d seen it very clearly on his face. It was unmistakable.

She should have said something. Anything.

He’d looked so disappointed. But she’d just been caught so off-guard.

It seemed silly now… especially with everything that had developed between them in the past few months… but Anne hadn’t even entertained the idea of marriage.

Maybe because, even though she’d been kissed and even though she was loved, Anne still thought of herself as destined for tragedy.

She didn’t think of herself as Mrs Gilbert Blythe. She thought of herself as Anne Shirley Cuthbert – teacher, author, and adventurer.

And that frightened her.

* * *

In the morning, she dressed in the trousers again and pinched her cheeks for some colour so that Emily wouldn’t assume she had contracted some deadly disease overnight.

She went downstairs to the dining room.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning, Anne. I hope you slept well.”

“Your guest room is extremely comfortable.”

Anne joined Emily at the table and poured herself a much-needed cup of tea.

“I will be heading to my first class of the day soon. You’re very welcome to join me. As a future teacher yourself, it might be interesting for you to be my companion for the day. Gilbert is one of my students this morning, won’t that be fun.”

“That’s incredibly generous of you, Emily. Unfortunately, I have a rather urgent engagement at The Globe.”

“The newspaper?”

Anne nodded.

“I have a very important story for them. Something that people need to hear about! Or at least I thought I did. I was turned away yesterday. Possibly on the account of me being a _girl_. But I am determined to go back and try again.”

Emily made a knowing face, “hence the pants?”

“I thought it might help my case this time. So I’m taken more seriously.”

Emily sighed and placed her tea cup back in its saucer.

“Anne, would you allow me to be honest with you for a moment?”

“Of course.”

“No one will take you more seriously just because you’re wearing trousers.”

Anne’s cheeks exploded into a violent blush.

“It’s an important lesson to learn but the only way you’ll be taken seriously is if you’re unapologetic about who you are and what you’re going to bring to the world. And while I am a big proponent of pants, I don’t wear them so I can harness some manly power. I wear them because I’m comfortable and they allow me to feel confident in my work. That might not be the same for everybody. Do you understand?”

Anne nodded, feeling all kinds of embarrassed but extremely humbled.

“You’re right. And, I think I might go and change.”

Emily gave her a relieved smile, “there’s nothing wrong with conquering the world in a dress.”

* * *

Anne, in one of her simplest dresses, entered the Globe offices again that morning. Striding in and sitting herself down at the editor’s desk without an invitation.

“I understand I’m not what you’re used to here,” she began, “but the story I’m about to tell deserves your attention. And your readers have a right to know what their government is doing to children all over this country – so it’s your editorial responsibility to listen to me.”

And he did.

* * *

Gilbert waited outside the Globe offices wringing his cap in his hands. He knew Anne was inside, Doctor Oak had relayed to him her plans just before class began and then promptly excused him.

“I’ll let you miss class just this once, Gilbert. But just because your sweetheart is so charming and I’d hate for her to be lonely in our fine city. Go on, off you go, you can catch up with me tomorrow.”

He hoped Anne’s meeting would go well this time. Although, a selfish part of him wished it wouldn’t, as he knew Anne wouldn’t leave Toronto until she’d got what she wanted, and therefore he’d be able to spend more time with her.

Then he saw her push the doors open, with a fresh face and a confident smile. She’d done it!

“Anne,” he called out to her.

The smile disappeared from her face, replaced by a timid expression. Gilbert hated that his misconceived expression of love had done this: closed her off to him, again.

“Hello. You’re not missing class on my account, are you?”

“I have the full permission of Doctor Oak. She’s quite taken by you.”

Anne looked down at her feet and smiled.

“Did it go well?”

“They’ve promised to write a story… investigate even. See if they can help.”

“Congratulations, Anne.”

“I just wish I could do more.”

Gilbert nodded, understanding her sense of powerlessness.

“For now… would you take a walk with me?”

She gave a tight little nod and took his arm, but Gilbert could feel how stiff she felt compared to yesterday. It reminded him of their second dance together at the county fair. She’d been rigid and had avoided all eye-contact with him. In hindsight, he knew it was because he’d mistakenly stepped-out with Winnie and made a spectacle of it in front of Anne, consequently upsetting her.

They took a few strained laps around the park. He hopelessly tried to engage her in polite conversation, waiting for an opportunity to apologise for his forward behaviour the night before. But every time he tried, she would change the subject or get distracted by something else.

Miserably, he gave up trying.

Then the strangest thing happened. They passed a bench with a solitary figure sat reading on it, taking no notice of him, until he called out to them.

“Anne Shirley? Gilbert Blythe?”

They both turned around.

There he was. Mr Phillips, their old teacher.

Gilbert felt Anne’s hand slip into his. He glanced at her to see her jaw tight. But not with fear.

“Mr Phillips. Hello.”

“What are you––“

“I hope you’re well.”

“Yes, I am. But what are you doing in Toronto?”

“Gilbert is a student here. Medical school, no less. Thanks to our wonderful Avonlea teacher, Miss Stacy. I, however, am just visiting.”

Mr Phillips frowned, clearly very confused.

“I forgive you,” Anne said softly.

“Excuse me.”

“You were not a good teacher, or a nice man. But I hope things are different for you now. And I forgive you.”

And with that, Anne guided Gilbert away and up the path.

“Why did you do that? He was very cruel to you.” Gilbert asked when they were a safe distance away.

“Because _someone_ needs to. And I’d imagine he hasn’t forgiven himself,” Anne sighed, “but perhaps now, with my forgiveness, he’ll be able to move on… and be a better person.”

“Anne, that was very good of you.”

Anne rolled her eyes, “please. If I was all that good I wouldn’t have twisted the knife that you, _his best student_ , is now a successful U of T undergraduate thanks to the help of _another_ teacher.”

Gilbert looked at her and the mischievous way she was smirking.

“While I have forgiven all the horrible things he did to me, he was very cruel to you too, Gilbert. And I shall never forgive him for that… And also maybe the time he called me a boy… that was… unnecessary.”

“It’s a shame you’re not still wearing those trousers. That would have been quite a shock for him.”

Anne threw him a teasing look.

“What happened to those, by the way, gone out of fashion already?”

“I was persuaded by my new, dear friend Emily that I didn’t need trousers just to make a man listen to me.”

Gilbert nodded thoughtfully.

“Dresses suit me just fine,” Anne continued.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, I think the trousers were…”

Gilbert searched his head for an appropriate word.

“…C-H-A-R-M-I-N-G.”

Anne rolled her eyes at him in good humour.

“Back to spelling are we?” She inquired.

“Remains to be seen.”

She gave him a fond look and squeezed his hand, and Gilbert thought all was well again. Library incident forgotten.

* * *

Anne returned to Emily’s home that evening. Gilbert had been roped into cleaning the library with his housemates after an angry librarian had confronted the head of their boarding house early that afternoon, so they had said their goodbyes.

Things still felt out of balance with him. The _sort-of_ proposal hanging between them.

She loved him, that hadn’t changed. But she was worried that if she was to achieve her dreams and fulfil her passions, then there wouldn’t be a place for him in her life.

She entered the house and bumped into a rather tall man taking off his hat in the entranceway.

“Oh, excuse me, sir.”

“Hello. Who might you be?”

“I’m Anne. May I help you?”

“Not one of my wife’s students are you?”

“Your wife?” Anne said in confusion.

From the parlour, she heard the screech of a chair. Emily ran into the entranceway shouting in excitement. She jumped into the man’s arms and he spun her around and around.

“You’re home? I wasn’t expecting you for another few days!” Emily said excitedly.

“Oh well the New York exchange is far less exciting than ours so why be away from you for more than I needed to be,” the man replied, “also I can’t leave my brother in charge for very long here.”

Anne watched as they embraced each other in one of the most amorous and sweet displays of romance she had ever seen.

“Anne, I’m sorry this is my husband.”

He stuck out his hand in greeting to her, “hello, I’m George Phillips.”

Anne shook it. Still stunned at the revelation. Doctor Oak was married.

“Anne was keeping me company for a few days in your absence. She’s the sweetheart of one of my finest students. From Avonlea, no less.”

“Ah, my brother lived there for a while. Well, thank you, Anne. You’re most welcome here. If you’ll excuse me, I must go and get my cases off the carriage.”

George returned outside, letting go of his wife’s hand at the last possible moment.

Emily turned to Anne.

“Are you okay? You look rather shocked.”

Anne snapped back into reality, “yes. For some reason, I had assumed you weren’t married.”

Emily tapped the ring on her finger, it was clear as day.

“Why would you assume that?”

Anne didn’t quite know what to say, instead she burst into tears. Emily swept her up into her arms.

“Oh, darling. Come, sit with me.”

She led Anne into the parlour and sat her down.

“Has something happened Anne?”

Anne shook her head and began to laugh between tears, “I’m relieved.”

Emily looked surprised, “you’re relieved that I’m married?”

“Recently I have been worried that getting married will be the end of me… me as Anne Shirley Cuthbert. But you’re a married woman… and you have your own success… your own independence… and your own life.”

“I have all that and love, my dear.”

“I have seen married women with nothing, and unmarried women with everything. I believe you’re the first married woman with _everything_ I’ve ever met.”

“Marriage need not be a prison. Not if you want it to be. Not if you’re with the right person. And George, he’s the right person for me. Gilbert hasn’t––“

“No,” Anne rushed to say, “not in so many words. But I know he feels… that his intentions may be…”

“No need to say it. I understand. I expect you can see it as plainly on his face, as I can.”

Anne nodded.

“I don’t know him as well as you do. But he doesn’t strike me as the type of man who would make you give anything up.”

Anne sat and thought about it for a while, “no. He isn’t.”

Emily’s eyes softened, “well then. It doesn’t mean you don’t have to make sacrifices now and again. I have given things up for George… but he has given a lot up for me. He always wanted a large family… one that I cannot give him… but he chose me regardless. Love who you love… and be with them.”

Anne put her arm around her new friend and they sat together.

* * *

The rest of Anne’s time in Toronto was blissful. Days spent in tea houses, libraries and museums with her best friend on her arm; and nights spent in the company of several new kindred spirits. How wonderful all the sights and sounds of Toronto were… a whole new world in which to have adventures in. So, when it came time to leave, it was all quite tragic, really.

“I’ll visit again, as soon as I can,” Anne said to Gilbert as they stood together on the train platform.

“Not if I can come to your first… I’ll be home in the summer, as soon as classes finish.”

Anne nodded and looked away, solemnly. Gilbert reached under her chin and raised her eyes back to his.

“My Anne…” he whispered so softly, with a fond but heartbroken gaze in his eyes.

_Was she allowed to kiss him?_ She wondered. _Would anyone around them care?_

Gilbert’s face fell and he pulled his hand away from her face. Anne realised she must be frowning, such an annoying habit to have when one was deep in thought.

He stuffed his hand in his pockets like a little boy, as he had done on many occasions around her.

“Sorry, it seems I can’t help but–“

Anne didn’t let him finish, she closed the gap between them with a kiss. He relaxed into it and Anne could practically feel the relief course through his body. When she pulled back his eyes were still closed tight.

“Do you think if I keep my eyes closed the train will never come?”

Anne laughed and, at the same time, the station bell rang to signal the arriving train.

“Perhaps I should just stay.”

Gilbert put his hands up in mock surrender, “don’t say that around me, otherwise I won’t let you go and then I’ll have Marilla and Matthew to answer to when you miss your exams.”

The train pulled in and Anne realised that there were tears rolling down her cheeks.

“I love you, Gilbert.”

Gilbert took her hands in his and kissed them. It was a parting tradition for them now.

“I love you, Anne.”

He helped her up onto the train steps and she stood there.

“I’ll write to you as soon as I get home.”

“So will I.”

The train whistle sounded. Anne let go of him and moved into the carriage, keeping her eyes firmly on him until he was just a speck in the distance.

To her surprise, she found herself wishing for a proposal after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come chat to me on tumblr @homerically
> 
> also currently I have this down as four chapters but I might do a forth for your pleasure and my incessant need to write anything but my actual own novel


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a summer of surprises in Avonlea. Anne wonders if she's ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it's been a little while. I've also added another chapter to this fic as three wasn't enough... the fourth will come sometime next week.
> 
> (oh and I definitely took liberties with the time it took letters to travel between Toronto and PEI, I plead with you to suspend your disbelief)

Getting bad news in a letter was never easy, even though Anne had long since perfected a dignified straight-face after receiving such a letter – she’d done it so many times before. But to receive a letter from Emily Oak to Green Gables just a day before Gilbert was due to arrive home in Avonlea, she knew what the contents would be before she even opened it.

Gilbert was sick. Too sick to write himself and definitely too sick to travel. Something he’d caught while completing a medical placement at a local children’s orphanage.

She practically burst into tears at the gate the moment the postman handed her the letter. Jerry heard her all the way from the barn, rushed to her side and helped her inside.

Both Marilla and Matthew were stunned by the spectacle as usual, not quite sure what the right thing to say was, other than words of encouragement.

“I suppose it’s par for the course in his profession, Anne.”

“Everything will be alright.”

“He’ll get better in no time.”

“He’ll be home soon.”

It did nothing to soothe her anxiety. The only person who seemed to share her lack of optimism was Bash, who paced the floor of his kitchen for hours as Anne sat at their table reading the letter over and over and over.

“And she doesn’t say what the illness is?” He asked her.

“No… just that it came on quite quickly.”

“I do not like the sound of it, I really don’t. It’s _just_ like what happened to Mary,” Bash was almost shouting now, Anne had never seen him so angry.

Tears started falling from Anne’s eyes again and Hazel rushed to rub her back.

“Sebastian, you’re scaring the poor girl.”

Elijah, who was sat opposite Anne, prised the letter from her hands gently.

“She does write that he should recover.”

Hazel shushed Anne, “if the doctor says that he will be well then he will be well.”

* * *

Two days passed with no news. Anne barely slept or ate. Marilla pestered her about it until Anne screamed at her in a rage to be left alone. _How could she eat or sleep at a time like this?_

The other girls also tried to raise her spirits with promised trips to the Lake of Shining Waters or into town to the new photo studio but she refused.

She couldn’t lose someone else she loved to disease. Not again. Not a third time.

The only thing that stopped her boarding a train to Toronto was the fear that she’d miss the next letter or that by the time she got there it would be too late. Instead, she wandered aimlessly around the forest. Sometimes praying, sometimes crying, sometimes just standing very still on the coastline.

The next letter that arrived was from Peter, one of his housemates she’d met in the spring. He wrote of Gilbert’s fever breaking, of him waking up moaning Anne’s name, and the colour returning to his cheeks.

While reading Anne collapsed into a pile on the floor and began to cry with joy. Matthew and Marilla momentarily mistook it for the reaction to the worst news of all… but eventually they saw her big smile and bright eyes.

“He’s going to be okay.”

The next letter was from Gilbert himself. He had recovered enough to write and started with the sincerest apology that he had broken his promise to join her in Avonlea straight after classes. Anne didn’t even finish reading it before she was already composing one in reply to tell him that it didn’t matter as long as he was well and out of danger. She could tell from his words that he had a little way to go before he was back at full health but that he was most definitely growing in strength every day.

The rest of the letter was filled with his usual sweet devotions. One line in particular stood out to her.

_Anne, more than ever, I know what I want now, the sickness has given me that at least._

She felt the same. In fact, she remembered something she had told Cole a while back and then what Emily had repeated to her on her visit to Toronto.

_Love who you love and be with them._

So Anne too, _more than ever_ , knew what she wanted. To be with him.

Gilbert also wrote of home and how much he ached for it. And Anne thought of just the thing to send him that she knew would raise his spirits.

She was in town with the Lacroix family helping them shop when she happened to wander past the travelling photo studio that had been set-up in one of the old shops. It had been the talk of Avonlea recently and she had even seen the family photo the Barrys had commissioned. Bash was astounded by it, having not seen a photo before, he asked so many questions and the salesman very happily obliged him – trying his best to explain the science behind it all.

_Would Gilbert appreciate a picture of her?_ She knew he already had one of Cole’s drawings by his bed but Anne just loved the idea of him waking up to a real-life portrait of her.

The new technology was marvellous but not cheap. If she scraped together she could afford just one photo. And Anne realised, if he ached for his home, she could give him something to remind him of it.

* * *

Three weeks passed before Gilbert was cleared by Emily and his housemates to travel. One drawback to being friends with such an array of medically-obsessed individuals was that he had found himself strictly monitored and under almost-constant supervision as he recovered.

He had wanted to travel just one week after his fever broke, feeling desperate enough to get back to Anne and to his family to endure the days long journey – but his jailers had all insisted he remain in bed.

After the second week cooped up in his room, Gilbert had grown incredibly bored. His housemates did their best to entertain him with games, tricks and their new favourite hobby of composing imaginary letters from Anne to tease him with.

Her real letters came often enough. One parcel from her even came with a surprise – it was a photograph wrapped in fine paper.

Gilbert nearly burst into tears when he saw the portrait of Bash with little Delly sat on his knee. He couldn’t believe so much time had passed since he had seen them and how much his little niece had grown. Sure Bash had written of teeth and talking and walking… but Gilbert just couldn’t believe how big she was now. The photo was a precious gift that he clutched tightly to his chest.

He hadn’t realised how much he’d needed something like that.

That night he snuck out of bed and packed his bags so, the moment he was deemed well enough, he could head straight for the station and back home. 

And one week later that day came. Jeremiah even had business in Charlottetown and was accompanying him on the journey; although he didn’t enlighten Gilbert to the nature of his visit, he suspected it had something to do with the number of letters he had traded with Anne after her visit and the subsequent correspondence he’d struck up with Cole Mackenzie. Perhaps he was a collector of art.

Eventually, he arrived in Avonlea, exhausted but beyond excited for his month back at home. It was late when he arrived, beyond midnight, Elijah met him at Bright River to escort him home. Gilbert supposed it was too late to visit Anne, although he imagined _she_ wouldn’t have any qualms with him showing up under her window, he expected _Marilla_ might.

Through letters, they had made plans to reunite the following day at noon. And even though these plans had been hijacked by their families and now it was a whole gathering of everyone, he was excited to see her – refreshed and at his best.

* * *

Waking up in his own Avonlea bed was completely disorientating. It can’t have been later than 6am when he first stirred, the sun had only just started to rise. The rest of his family were still asleep but he got up and dressed and snuck out of the back door.

He always favoured a walk to clear his head a bit. Coming home was overwhelming to say the least, especially when he realised just how much he had missed it. He’d never really felt like that before – homesick. When he’d travelled to Alberta with his father he hadn’t need to feel homesick because his home was with him – his father. And then, when he’d been working on the steamer, he hadn’t missed home because he didn’t think he had one anymore. It was only years later when he was standing up for Miss Stacy that he realised something:

_“I returned to Avonlea because_ _I needed what had always been here_.”

Home was his family, his friends, the house he grew up in, his orchard. Home was where Anne was.

His walk took him to the Blythe graveyard. He wanted to talk to his father and Mary ­– to tell them all that he had done since he’d last visited in December. When he arrived he was surprised to find small bouquets of flowers on both gravesides. He wondered who had left them for his father. Mary was understandable, it could have been Bash or Elijah, but John Blythe had no more ties to the world other than his last living child.

He didn’t know how long he sat there – on the bench beside the graveyard – perhaps hours. The thing that woke him from his whirlwind of thoughts was a stick breaking not too far away.

He turned. Anne was rigidly still just behind him, with one foot hovering over the twig she’d just stepped on. Her face was strained and she wobbled dangerously.

“Sorry…”

“Anne!”

“…I didn’t mean to disturb you. You looked so peaceful. You weren’t at the house but I thought you might be here.”

“No. No, please.” He shuffled over on the bench to make room for her.

“I found myself unable to wait till noon. Patience has not always been my best virtue.”

She tucked herself in next to him.

Gilbert took her hand, “I was planning to come over myself. I just…”

He trailed off.

“I understand,” she whispered to him, giving his hand a squeeze.

They sat for a while, their shoulders touching. There was so much he wanted to say.

“I’m glad you’re better, Gilbert. I couldn’t bear being here while… I was so afraid.”

“I would have hated you to see me that way… to see someone you love ill is––“

“Gilbert, no, I _wanted_ to be there.”

“I remember seeing my father die… I didn’t want you to have to go through that.”

“Well, I won’t have to… not ever!” Anne replied, quite resolutely.

She kicked him lightly with her foot, “no more talk of it.”

Gilbert rolled his eyes.

“Anne,” he began, “did you leave flowers on my father’s grave?”

She looked at him, cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

“I– I did,” she stammered, “I just thought he should know why you wouldn’t be home yet.”

Gilbert felt incredibly touched that she would think of his father at all.

“I think it’s lovely that you have a place to come to so you can remember and talk to him.”

Gilbert sighed, “I wish you could have met him, Anne.”

Anne frowned at him, “oh, but I did?”

Gilbert looked at her, puzzled.

“A long time, ago. Just before he passed away actually.”

Gilbert searched his memory, remembering vaguely his father out of bed in the doorway, looking more alive than normal while staring at the peculiar wide-eyed girl standing out in the snow.

“I suppose you did.”

“He told me I had wonderful red hair,” Anne said to him with a smug grin, “far kinder than you were about it, if I recall.”

Gilbert chuckled. Anne looked away from him and towards the grave again, her face grew serious.

“He also said he had heard nice things about me. And I remember thinking just how nice he was. He was nicer to me than anyone else I met in Avonlea for the first time, even Marilla. I wish I could have known him more.”

One of Gilbert’s biggest regrets recently was that his father hadn’t been able to see what he had made of his life. But he supposed his father had had a glimpse into the best part of it – Anne. Perhaps he even knew before Gilbert did how important Anne would become.

“I’m so grateful to have met him… even briefly – to know where you came from.”

Gilbert leaned over and kissed her.

* * *

Summer was full of surprises. The biggest of all being a visitor Anne received at Green Gable one afternoon.

She was sat at the table across from Gilbert with Mary’s cookbook in-between. It delighted her that the Blythe-Lacroix family so often used it and she had been keen to add more and more to it for them.

Gilbert and her had been laughing about all their funny and cherished moments with their departed friend when there was a knock at the front door.

“It can’t be Bash, can it?” Anne wondered as she saw Marilla head to greet the guest.

“No, he’s in town buying new clothes for Delly? Diana?”

“Diana doesn’t come here now that Jerry…” Anne trailed off.

Marilla came back in, followed by Moody, who was wringing his red kerchief in his hands.

Both Anne and Gilbert rose to greet him. Delighted to see their friend but surprised.

“Hello, you two.”

“Hello Moody, it’s good to see you,” Gilbert outstretched his hand and shook Moody’s.

“I was wondering if I could speak to Anne.”

“I’ll put some tea on,” Marilla said, leaving the room.

Anne watched as Gilbert went to follow her but Moody stopped him.

“Actually, I could probably use your advice too.”

Gilbert nodded and motioned for Moody to sit.

Anne had often seen Moody in spates of anxiety but this was far beyond the usual level. His hair was dishevelled, forehead glistened with sweat and his hands were white from where they were clenched around the worn-out fabric of his kerchief. He was rocking back and forth where he sat like some deranged madman.

“I have chosen a wife,” he blurted out, “I’m ready to plight my troth… take the plunge… get hitched…”

Anne reeled back, cringing at his word-choice.

“It doesn’t quite work like that.”

Gilbert put his hand lightly on her knee. _Let me deal with this_ , it said.

“It’s Ruby, isn’t it?” He said, gently, as if not wanting to scare off a frightened deer.

Moody nodded.

“Do you have plans to propose?”

He nodded again, “yes, but I’m determined to get it right. That’s why I’m here, to ask Anne’s advice?”

“Me?” Anne said, bringing a hand to her chest.

“Diana suggested it, I bumped into her yesterday in town. She said you had the best romantical ideas about proposals.”

Anne’s eyes grew wide, Gilbert turned to her with raised eyebrows, half-teasing, half-intrigued.

“Please, Anne, you have to help me,” Moody begged.

Anne looked away from Gilbert, mortified. She sighed and reached across and took Moody’s hands.

“Do you love her?”

“Yes.

“Then start with that. Tell her all the ways you love her. How much you adore her. And how devoted you will be to her. Tell her everything about her that shines and everything that keeps you up at night thinking about her. Promise to be her equal and her partner. Vow to make a future together and to cherish her forever.”

Moody and Gilbert stared at her with open-mouths. She looked between them. Gilbert had gone positively pink and was swaying slightly as if he was in a daze.

Moody swallowed, his voice was tight and strained, “do you think you could write that all down for me?”

Anne laughed and shook her head, “just speak from the heart, Moody.”

He rose from his chair just as Marilla brought in a tray of tea.

“I love her. I love Ruby Gillis.”

He bolted out of the room.

Marilla looked to Gilbert and Anne, “what in the heavens?”

Anne shook Gilbert from his daze, “perhaps you should go with him?”

Gilbert squeezed his eyes tightly shut for a moment and Anne thought momentarily that he might keel over, but then he opened them again.

“Yes. Okay.”

He headed in the same direction as their friend.

“Oh,” Anne called after him, “if she says no the first time, tell him not to worry. I believe Ruby had a plan to reject her first few proposals.”

Gilbert, still clearly in shock, nodded and left.

“My,” Marilla began, “admissions of love are becoming a bit of a tradition around this table at this time of year. Why is was only a year ago you said the very same thing about Gilbert.”

Anne chuckled. Marilla set down the tea.

Anne took a sip and wondered about Gilbert’s reaction, it was mightily strange.

* * *

The second surprise of the summer was that Ruby did not reject Moody’s proposal.

Gilbert returned to Anne’s later that evening and regaled her with the story of Moody’s proposal – how he didn’t exactly follow Anne’s advice but Ruby was thrilled nonetheless and immediately accepted.

The third surprise was just how quickly the ceremony came about. The minister was so pleased at his son’s engagement, he cancelled all of his other services to concentrate on the wedding.

On the morning in question, Anne sat on her porch, finishing off her embroidery on the gift for the soon-to-be newlyweds when Gilbert Blythe rode up on his horse.

“Good morning,” he said.

She returned his greeting.

“I thought you’d be tied up in best-man duties today.”

Gilbert rolled his eyes, “I soon will be. I just need to speak with Matthew before the day gets away from me. Business.”

Anne nodded and gestured to where Matthew was inside. She supposed he was borrowing cufflinks again and thought nothing of it.

* * *

The day did indeed get away from Gilbert. After his conversation with Matthew, he headed straight to the Spurgeon household where Moody was breathing frantically into a paper bag.

Gilbert played doctor for a bit. Instructing him to take deep, slow breaths and to put his head between his knees. Then it was decorating, dressing, last-minute madness and eventually the ceremony began.

All of Moody’s nerves seemed to slip away when he saw Ruby at the top of the aisle.

But once again, as he had at another wedding years ago, Gilbert found himself looking at Anne. She was resplendent in her best dress and done-up hair. He loved how her face was so lit up with a genuine joy for her friend, and how her eyes glistened with tears.

And, once again _, like before_ , Anne met his gaze.

Gilbert knew that he was supposed to be looking at the bride because she was _meant_ to be the most beautiful woman on the earth at that moment… _and no disrespect to Prissy or Ruby_ … but for him, the most beautiful woman on the earth would always be Anne.

This time, she didn’t look away like she had at Prissy’s wedding. Instead, she held his gaze with her own, that seemed to be reassuring him. She even gave him a little nod, as if to say _I’m ready_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bless you all for all your lovely comments. I've really struggled writing this particular chapter – expressing myself in the way I want to as been very hard and so I just decided to post the chapter and be done with it.
> 
> Chapter Four is very exciting, I have a great scene coming up... to be continued...


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avonlea gossip is ripe and it gets back to Anne.

To say Anne was _expecting_ a proposal was an understatement. After the wedding, every moment she spent with him felt charged with the potential that he was going to get down one knee in front of her. (One time he did, only he was just bending to tie his shoe.)

She found herself _wanting_ it. Seeing Ruby and Moody so happy definitely didn’t help.

Diana lay by her side one afternoon in her Green Gables bed and casually asked:

“What would you say? If Gilbert proposed to you?”

Anne thought for a moment. Ever since that day in the Toronto library, she was embarrassed to admit that she had imagined a proposal plenty.

She turned her head to look at her closest friend, “I’d say yes.”

“You would?” Diana asked, leaning up on her elbows, surprised.

“Yes.”

“Even though you haven’t finished college? Even though he’s in Toronto?”

“I love him.”

Diana furrowed her brow confused and looked up at the ceiling, “I don’t think I’ll ever feel that way about anyone.”

Anne laughed, “you’d be surprised. Wasn’t I saying just the same thing not so long ago?”

Diana threw her a dry look, “Anne, I think everyone but you two knew you’d find your way to each other eventually.”

“Really?” Anne asked. It certainly wasn’t the first time someone had told her that. All of her kindred spirits had expressed similar sentiments to her: Cole, Miss Stacy, Aunt Jo, Bash, and even her own adopted parents.

“You two just seemed so… inevitable… like you’ve done it thousands of times before. And despite first impressions, you always seemed so well-matched, even when you were fighting or he was hundreds of miles away.”

“Diana Barry! And, here I thought I was the romantical one.”

“Being your roommate has certainly rubbed off on me,” Diana flopped back down onto the bed.

Anne laughed.

“I suppose I ought to write to my English cousins,” Diana continued, “so they’ll send over another sixpence since I’ll be needing it soon.”

Anne nudged her playfully with her elbow but didn’t disagree.

* * *

Gilbert was leaving for Toronto soon. It hung over them like a metaphorical dark cloud and made their last summery days feel mournful.

On his penultimate day, Anne sat on a blanket in the Blythe and Lacroix orchard minding Delphine while Gilbert, Bash, Elijah, and Hazel picked the last remaining apples.

Anne cherished moments like this. Time spent with family.

“Gil! Gil!” Delly cried, reaching her sticky fingers up to her uncle.

From up a ladder, Gilbert pulled a face at her. A face Anne recognised from when he’d jumped out of his carriage to kiss her for the second time a year ago. It was the face he pulled when there was something so irresistible in front of him, she had come to learn. He jumped down and took his niece into his arms.

“We’ll never be getting any work done if you let my little lady boss you around,” Bash teased from the tree.

“How can I help it? Gilbert whined back.

“Gil! Gil!” Delly cried again.

“Go on, _Gil_ , get back to work,” Anne giggled.

“Oh, _Gil_ is it now?” He raised his eyebrows at her.

Everyone was laughing. And it felt like one word: family. Anne hoped that soon they would be even more so.

But soon, she found herself at Bright River, waving goodbye as he made his way back to college. And she watched as his train got further and further away until it was just a speck on the horizon. 

* * *

She was five pages deep into her essay for her literature class that was only supposed to be two pages when she heard the bell of Blackmore manor ring.

As she descended the stairs she heard the usual cackling of her housemates. Ruby stood amongst them out of breath and red in the face.

Since her wedding, Ruby had lived on the other side of Charlottetown with Moody. It had upset the girls greatly that in their last year of college they saw Ruby less and less, but it made it easier to know just how happy she was.

“Tell us!” Anne overheard Tilly begging as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Not. Without. Anne,” Ruby struggled to say between laborious breaths.

“You shouldn’t be running in your condition,” Josie snipped.

Ruby pulled a face, “what?”

“That’s what you’ve come to tell us, haven’t you?” Josie lowered her voice, “that you’re _with_ child.”

“No!”

Anne stepped into the hallway, “are you going to ask her that every time we see her?”

“I’m not. I promise. Anyway, I made a promise to finish college before anything like that occurs. We are taking precautions.” Ruby finished resolutely.

The girls all giggled. Recently they had all come to learn from their youngest friend all the mature and _topical_ information that only married women should be privy to.

“I’m here to talk to Anne.”

“Me?”

Ruby rushed forward and grasped her by the hands.

“I was at lunch with Moody’s divinity teacher’s wife, Ruth. And Ruth is the sister of Benjamin Baily who lives by Bright River station, you know the house with the red-roof.”

Anne was already lost.

“Well, Benjamin Baily works with Archie Derwin who’s cousins with Mr Lynde.”

The other girls surrounded them all, all intrigued at where this is going.

“And Mr Lynde told Mr Derwin, who told Mr Baily, who told Ruth, who told me, that his wife was at the Avonlea post office and overheard Bash sending something of great importance to Toronto.”

Anne nodded her head as if she understood.

“And apparently Mrs Lynde happened to see it was a small velvet bag.”

The girls around her exploded into screams and all began jumping up and down. Yet Anne felt very lost in the story and had no idea what all the fuss was about.

“Ruby I––“

“Don’t you see, Anne. Bash was sending Gilbert a ring.”

Anne withdrew her hands as if she’d been burnt, “what?”

“It must be his mother’s,” Josie guessed.

“Isn’t he coming to visit you soon, Anne?” Diana asked.

“Yes… in two weeks but––“

Again, the girls exploded into screams.

“He must be coming to propose to you!” Jane exclaimed.

Anne felt like her knees would collapse beneath her. There was _anticipating_ a proposal and then there was actually _knowing_ it was going to happen.

“Bash could be sending anything to him. It doesn’t have to be a ring,” Anne scrambled for an alternative, “perhaps baby Delly lost a tooth.”

All the girls pulled disgusted faces and all at once began to disagree with her.

“Did he say anything in his last letter? Anything that might give you a clue,” Jane suggested.

Anne took off up to her room, with the girls in hot pursuit. She rummaged through her bedside cabinet and found his last correspondence. Scanning the pages, she looked for any hint until she came across one small sentence that on her first reading she hadn’t thought much about.

_Being back in Toronto is a reminder there are things I am in want of; things that I hope I shall soon be able to ask for._

The letter fell from her hands. The girls took it as enough confirmation and burst into screams again. Anne sat motionless on her bed.

_a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife_

_there are things I am in want of_

_must be in want of a wife_

_things I am in want of_

_in want of_

_in want of_

_wife_

* * *

The weeks leading up to Gilbert’s visit passed in a blur. Anne found herself wandering around Charlottetown in a daze, with an icy anticipation in her stomach. She had to remind herself that this is what she _wanted_. And what she had wanted for quite some time now.

But she just hadn’t expected to feel so nervous about it. Long were the days of imagined proposals in her story club-house.

Just four days before Gilbert was due to visit, she was at her weekly tea with Diana, Cole and Aunt Josephine. Diana was relating a story about Minnie-May’s recent studies that Anne wasn’t really listening to when her mind wandered to the day of Ruby and Moody’s wedding. And she remembered something that sent her teacup smashing to the ground, spilling the half-drunk tea all over her shoes.

“Matthew!” Anne cried.

“Good heavens, whatever’s the matter,” Aunt Josephine inquired.

Cole raised his eyebrows sardonically, used to the dramatics.

“Matthew. Gilbert visited Matthew in the summer. I didn’t think much of it then but...”

“He must have been…” Diana trailed off.

Anne confirmed it with a nod.

“I’m lost. Gilbert did what?” Cole sighed.

Anne stuttered but couldn’t quite get the words out.

Diana stepped in for her, “Anne is expecting a proposal. Perhaps even when Gilbert visits this Saturday.”

It took a good few minutes before Cole ceased laughing.

* * *

On Saturday morning, the boarding house girls roused her early and set about dressing and beautifying Anne as if it was the wedding day itself. She played along; letting them lace her tightly into a corset, try fifty different hairstyles on her, and argue over which dress she should wear.

Anne for the most part, for once, stayed compliant, letting them pull her one way or another. She was happy to stare out of the window at the autumn storm that had been ravaging the island for the past twenty-four hours. Rain lashed at the window and thunder rumbled in the distance.

All she could think about was him. Him on one knee. Him asking her to be his wife. Him.

Suddenly, her answer was unknowable. She truly had no idea what she would say – whether she’d even say yes.

All of a sudden it was 2 o’clock and she was stood next to the table in the parlour with the girls all gathered around her.

“Any minute now,” Tillie giggled.

“Maybe the storm meant his train was cancelled?” Jane whispered.

Jodie elbowed and hushed her.

There was a knock at the door. The girls all began to bounce up and down.

“That must be him! That must be him!”

“Can you believe Anne is getting married!?”

All of a sudden, it was like a wave hit Anne. Every emotion she had ever felt hit her at once. She reached out for Diana and clutched her friend’s arm in blind panic.

“Don’t leave.”

“It will be alright, Anne. We’ll be right outside.”

“No, no, no, no, no––“

“Don’t worry. Stay right here we’ll go answer the door.”

Diana slid out of Anne’s grip and with the other girls left the parlour for the front door.

Everything felt wrong. What she was wearing. What her hair looked like. How she was feeling. It was uncomfortable. Too tight. Too loose. Even the weather was wrong. The weather! It seemed silly to place such importance on the weather but Anne was fixated on it.

She heard the front door open and the unmistakable voice of Gilbert greeting her housemates and it sent another role of nausea through her.

She couldn’t see him now; she wasn’t in any fit state. In fact, Anne felt like she would faint any moment.

She took a step back, not realising her dress was caught on the table. Over the giggling in the hallway, she heard the loud rip of her skirt – a jagged tear down the side by her thigh.

It was all wrong. She couldn’t be proposed to. Not with the dress, the hair or the weather.

She looked around the room, desperate for a way out but knowing there was nothing she could do. Except the window.

She bolted over, forcing it open against the push of the wind. The downpour hit her instantly, splattering all over her dress and face. Without hesitation, she slid over the windowsill and fell the short distance with a thud into the flowerbed.

There was a squelch as she landed in the mud, it sloshed all over her skirt. From somewhere behind her she heard her friends cry her name but she scrambled to her feet and took off down the path, running. The wind whipped at her hair, she felt the pins coming loose and falling away.

“Anne,” she barely heard the shout above the storm but she knew it was Gilbert.

The voice startled her and she found herself tripping on the torn part of her dress. She was sent sprawling to the floor, scraping her hands open on the paving.

“Anne,” Gilbert called again.

_Why must she always run?_ For once, why couldn’t she just face him when she was scared.

She remained still on the floor, being battered by the wind and the rain. Soon, he was by her side. She felt his hands on her shoulders, pulling her into a sat position. 

Daring a look at his face, she saw he was full of bewilderment and even hurt. It seemed he had guessed what she was trying to do.

“Anne, what…” he trailed off in confusion.

Behind him, Anne saw her housemates all huddled in the doorway, just as shocked.

Suddenly, Gilbert’s face went stoic and he quickly turned into Doctor Blythe. He turned her hands over in his, seeing the grazed and shredded skin of her palms.

“Let’s get you inside.”

He helped her to her feet and back into the house.

“Fetch whatever medical supplies you have here and I will make do,” he said to Diana.

* * *

Anne felt so disorientated as Gilbert patched her up in silence in the parlour. The girls were no doubt distracting Mrs Blackmore and keeping her elsewhere. And, Lily was discreet enough to light the fire and vanish.

Anne wanted to apologise, desperately. Gilbert just looked so dejected that she couldn’t bring herself to begin.

Looking at him now, in the firelight, with the storm raging outside, she knew more than ever how much she cared for him. It didn’t matter that her dress was torn, or her hair was loose. All that mattered was that she loved him.

“Do you not want to marry me, Anne?”

Anne’s eyes flew open in panic.

“That’s why you ran away, isn’t it? Because you thought I was going to propose to you.”

“Were you, Gil?”

Gilbert rummaged around in his jacket pocket, and pulled out a velvet bag. He ran his thumb over it.

“Well… first I was going to ask if it was something you wanted… but I think I’ve got my answer now.”

Anne reached or him, gently holding him by the shoulders.

“Gilbert Blythe… I think it’s something I’ve wanted for such a long time that when I finally thought it was going to happen I panicked. Unnecessarily might I add.”

Gilbert’s face filled with hope.

“Ask me,” she sat up on her knees, “ask me again and I’ll promise I’ll make it easier for you this time.”

Gilbert joined her on his knees, excitement and renewed energy thrumming through him.

“I cherish you, Anne. And, I once wrote in a letter you never read that I would never be engaged… not unless it was to you… and I once told you by a fire that you were my _one thing_ … because I knew the only thing the future held for me that truly mattered was you.”

He slid his hand into hers.

“You and I are one and the same. And even though there are miles between us, I still wake every morning with you on my mind and I go to sleep the same way… and all the moments in between.”

Anne began to cry.

“I love you, Anne. Even when you’re climbing out of windows. And I want to be your husband. So if you do want to marry me, even though I still can’t spell engagement, I’m asking you now. Will you–”

“Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really struggled with how to end this fic... (as you can probably tell)... but this series started out with the idea of Gilbert accidentally proposing by book quote and I wanted to end it with Anne absolutely yeeting herself out of a window so I guess I'm happy
> 
> If you enjoyed this, I'm very glad you did :) 
> 
> Come chat with my on tumblr @homerically, bless :)


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